In a Native Prau. 411 



the roof. During these four miserable days I was quite jolly 

 in this little snuggery — more so than I should have been if 

 confined the same time to the gilded and uncomfortable sa- 

 loon of a first-class steamer. Then, how comparatively sweet 

 was every thing on board — no paint, no tar, no new rope 

 (vilest of smells to the qualmish!), no grease, or oil, or var- 

 nish ; but instead of these, bamboo and rattan, and coir rope 

 and i^alm thatch ; pure vegetable fibres, which smell pleasant- 

 ly if they smeU at all, and recall quiet scenes in the green and 

 shady forest. 



Our ship had two masts, if masts they can be called, which 

 were great movable triangles. If in an ordinary ship you re- 

 place the shrouds and backstay by strong timbers, and take 

 away the mast altogether, you have the arrangement adopted 

 on board a prau. Above my cabin, and resting on cross- 

 beams attached to the masts, was a wilderness of yards and 

 spars, mostly formed of bamboo. The main yard, an immense 

 affair nearly a hundred feet long, was formed of many pieces 

 of wood and bamboo bound together with rattans in an in- 

 genious manner. The sail carried by this was of an oblong 

 shape, and was hung out of the centre, so that when the short 

 end was hauled down on deck the long end mounted high in 

 the air, making up for the lowness of the mast itself. The 

 foresail was of the same shape, but smaller. Both these were 

 of matting, and, wdth two jibs and a fore-and-aft sail astern of 

 cotton canvas, completed our rig. 



The crew consisted of about thirty men, natives of Macas- 

 sar and the adjacent coasts and islands. They were mostly 

 young, and were short, broad -faced, good-humored looking fel- 

 lows. Their dress consisted generally of a pair of trowsers 

 only when at work, and a handkerchief twisted round the 

 head, to which in the evening they would add a thin cotton 

 jacket. Four of the elder men wei'e " jurumudis," or steers- 

 men, who had to squat (two at a time) in the little steerage 

 before described, changing every six hours. Then there was 

 an old man, the "juragan,"or captain, but who was really 

 what we should call the first mate ; he occupied the other half 

 of the little house on deck. There were about ten respecta- 

 ble men, Chin^ese or Bugis, whom our owner used to call " his 

 own people." He treated them very well, shared his meals 



